Carmel Valley Ranch Resort

The course is in a beautiful area and you'll likely encounter many deer and wild turkeys. Conditions are pristine. I found the layout to be a bit over the top in some spots with several super elevated tees that didn't really add to the experience. Overall, the course is short, narrow on several holes, and can be pretty tricky. It was fun to play once, but it's not a course that's calling me back to play again. I much preferred the Quail Lodge course which is nearby.

Played Carmel Valley Ranch yesterday, and generally enjoyed it. Made a day trip from San Jose, and it took nearly two hours to get there with traffic. That said, I think it's worth the drive.

Course was in great shape. Fairways were lush, roughs were thick, greens were fast and true. The layout is playful and interesting. It's a par 70, and there were four par 3's, two par 5's. The par 4's are almost all on the shorter side, but because of the doglegs and bunkering, you can't simply take driver and leave yourself a wedge on every hole (but you can on some).

The par threes were actually disappointing. 7 is a joke of a hole - 118 yards from the tips - the pin was in the front, and it's banked in such a way that a shot short, or right of the hole trickles down towards it. The green was interesting - maybe the pin placement was just really easy - i'm not sure, but the way it was laid out on Saturday made no sense and certainly didn't bring the back bunker into play.

On the other hand, the 16th plays 226 from the tips, there's a bunker on the right of the green, and if you approach it from the front left, there's no depth to the green to either a long iron or hybrid would roll off the green, into rough that slopes down off back, so you're well beneath the hole on your 2nd shot. I was able to save par, but there's no chance for an average player to birdie this.

2 and 11 stand out as favorites for me. 2 is a short par four with water around the right of the green with a beautiful mountain backdrop. 11 starts from a very elevated tee box into a breathtaking view. The drive actually takes you beneath the green leaving an uphill approach. The picture on the website doesn't do it justice.

The range was nice, though not especially long. If you're a big hitter, be careful hitting driver since there are people using the range from both ends. The staff at the bar didn't seem to appreciate the fact that we had an afternoon tee time - it took forever to get and then pay for a couple of sandwiches. The other staff was great and allowed us to push back our start since what we expected to be a 20 minute lunch took 45 minutes. Pro shop was very nice.

I'll probably be back again - I really liked the place.

Wish we knew before going that we would be following a tournament

Front nine is shortish and fun to play. Back is creative design and more difficult. Great turf conditions.

Played 18 holes with my wife. The course isn't exactly long but demands accuracy off the tee. Tees and Greens had been recently aerified but ball roll was still great on the putting surface. Fairways were in great shape. A very fun round, will play again!

The staff members are very kind and friendly.

Great services through out the day.

We played this course as a practice round for an upcoming tournament round there. The course was almost empty on this Thursday with rain threatening (but not showing up until we finished). We had a very enjoyable round. Conditions were very nice except that the greens had been aerated within the last few days.

The front nine is flat with plenty of bunkers and some water. The back nine is hilly, harder, and more interesting. The course is shorter and narrower than most, so the challenge is more toward accuracy than length.

Carmel Valley Ranch is a great option in the Monterey/Carmel area. Resort quality course. Impeccable condition. It is not a long course by any means (around 6,100 from the back tees). I only hit driver on a few holes. But short does NOT mean easy.

Front nine is down in the valley: open fairways with a ton of subtle slopes lead to interesting lies even in the middle of the fairway. Minimal elevation change. Water in play on four holes on the front. The fourth hole in particular. Back nine is a completely different experience. Severe elevation change, blind shots.

Front or back, the greens will challenge your short game. I am a single-digit handicap and play a lot of golf at Bayonet, where they keep the greens pretty quick. But I was blown away by the firm, fast, smooth conditions. Had to concentrate on every single putt. No easy two-putts. Rolling true but very fast. It's a fun challenge, both with the putter/wedges around the greens and approach shots.

Beautiful course. Will definitely test your patience. Lightning greens.

Totally enjoyed playing Carmel Valley Ranch for the first time. Very good and difficult course for the somewhat short yardage from the back tees. The course was in great condition. The fairways seemed that one could putt on them. The greens are like putting on glass and local knowledge a must for reading the breaks.

The staff was extremely friendly and seem to be very customer focused.

Definitely will return.

Awesome s course. Short course so there are great scoring opportunities. Back 9 is great a lot of elevated tee and blind shots.

You can't help but enjoy the scenery. Great place to play.

Played Carmel Ranch in some rather soggy conditions, but overall conditions were good compared to neighboring courses. Greens were excellent.

Course is a fun track with the back nine providing spectacular views from several tee boxes. Overall, a short course, but greens and water hazards provide for additional challenge.

First lets start with the staff....They are incredible and make you feel like a welcome guest as soon as you encounter someone,the food is amazing(We had the fish taco's).Now for the course.....Hard to explain how perfect the course is even with this drought,the groundskeeper is obviously a magician.The only flaw what so ever was people who were lazy and not replacing or filling there divots(I come across this a lot on nice courses were people feel its not there obligation because they paid good money to play,well HELLO the course will only stay this nice if you help keep it that way!Fairways were as nice as some greens I've played and the greens........PGA worthy and will make you curse at times because they roll so true and fast.I look forward to playing here again someday but its out of my regular price range for a weekly course.Absolutely picture perfect!

The monterey Peninsula is full of great courses. Unfortunately it also has its share of average courses that jack up the price just because it's Monterey. CV Ranch is a great course. Well manicured from tee to green. This is a great scoring course for mid handicappers. Course plays short giving average hitters plenty of opportunity to hit short irons on approach shots. Par 3's range from wedges to hybrids with one having the green guarded by water on two sides to offer plenty of challenge. Greens roll nice and smooth.

Front nine is challenging but playable; back nine borders on unplayable with extreme hills & blind shots. Need to play more than once to know what to do - this was my first time & I was lost even though I am an accomplished player. Nice views on back nine.

Nice course--in process of sanding the fairways. Nice weather. Would like to play again now that I've seen the course.

The course is a little shorter than I expected it to be. Pete dye is at work on the greens, if you miss by a little you are in a tough spot. Back nine more scenic and longer than the front.

People very nice. Pricing for food and beverage is two tiered: members and others. Guess who pays a lot more. A little bothersome.

Everything written about the friendly and excellent staff is true. Everyone is super down to earth. My 2nd time playing and it was thoroughly enjoyable. The superstar is the back 9. I played it twice last year when they aerated the front and I didn't realize how lucky I was! No disrespect to the front nine which is fine but he back is where it's at! Wish that the prices were a little more reasonable so I could play it more often. Pace of play was great and when there was a little trip up, the staff was all over it and everything smoothed out just fine. Check it out!

Course was great, Staff was friendly. Food at Lunch was good service was terrible. Could not get a refill on drinks. Had to ask for the check. Felt like we did not even exist with the waiters.